Andhra Pradesh GK: Formation, Geography and Culture

The correct answer is B, 1953. Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 out of the Telugu-speaking districts of the old Madras State, with Kurnool as its capital and Tanguturi Prakasam as its first Chief Minister, and it was the first state in independent India carved out on the basis of language. Option A is wrong because 1950 is the year the Constitution came into force, when no such state existed. Option C is the commonest trap: 1 November 1956 is the date Andhra Pradesh was formed by merging Andhra State with the Telugu areas of Hyderabad under the States Reorganisation Act, which is a later and separate event. Option D is wrong because 1960 is the year Bombay State was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat. Keep 1953 for Andhra State and 1956 for Andhra Pradesh.

The correct answer is B, Potti Sriramulu. He fasted for a separate Telugu-speaking province and died on 15 December 1952 on the fifty-eighth day of the fast; the protests that followed made the government concede the demand within days, and Andhra State was created the next October. He is remembered as Amarajeevi, the immortal one. Option A is wrong because Tanguturi Prakasam, called Andhra Kesari, became the first Chief Minister of the new state but did not die in the agitation. Option C is wrong because Kandukuri Veeresalingam was a nineteenth-century social reformer of the Telugu country who worked for widow remarriage and women's education. Option D is wrong because Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 and later President of India.

The correct answer is C, 2014. Telangana came into being on 2 June 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, becoming the twenty-ninth state of the Union, and Hyderabad was to serve as the joint capital of both states for a transitional period while Andhra Pradesh built its new capital at Amaravati. Option A is wrong because 2000 is the year three other states were created, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand, which is why it is a favourite distractor. Option B is wrong because 2011 is the year of the last census and of the renaming of Orissa as Odisha. Option D is wrong because 2019 is the year the Andhra Pradesh High Court began work at Amaravati and the year Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into two union territories.

The correct answer is A, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre stands on Sriharikota island on the coast of the Nellore region, between the Pulicat lake and the Bay of Bengal, and every Indian orbital launch, by PSLV, GSLV, SSLV or LVM3, lifts off from there; the site is named after Satish Dhawan, a former chairman of ISRO. Option B is wrong because Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram is the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and a sounding rocket station, not an orbital launch site. Option C is wrong because Balasore in Odisha has the Chandipur missile testing range, which belongs to the DRDO. Option D is wrong because Hassan in Karnataka has the Master Control Facility that keeps station on India's geostationary satellites after they are launched.

The correct answer is B, Kuchipudi. Kuchipudi is named after the village of Kuchipudi, or Kuchelapuram, in the Krishna delta, where the dance drama tradition of the Bhagavata Mela was carried on; Siddhendra Yogi is remembered as the figure who gave it its form, and the Tarangam, danced on the rim of a brass plate, is its best known piece. Option A is wrong because Bharatanatyam belongs to Tamil Nadu and grew in the temples of the Kaveri delta. Option C is wrong because Odissi is the classical dance of Odisha, linked with the Jagannath temple at Puri and the maharis. Option D is wrong because Mohiniyattam is the classical solo dance of Kerala, which is also home to Kathakali. Kuchipudi is counted among the eight classical dances of India.

The correct answer is B, the Godavari and the Krishna. Kolleru is a large shallow freshwater lake lying in the low ground between the deltas of the Godavari and the Krishna; it acts as a natural flood balancing reservoir for the two rivers, is a wintering ground for pelicans and painted storks, and was declared a Ramsar site of international importance. Option A is wrong because the Penna drains Rayalaseema far to the south of Kolleru. Option C is wrong because the Vamsadhara flows in the far north of the state, near the Odisha border, nowhere near the lake. Option D is wrong for the same reason in respect of the Nagavali, which is also a north Andhra river. Fix Kolleru with the two great deltas, and Pulicat with the Tamil Nadu border.

The correct answer is A, Kurnool. The Belum Caves lie in the Kurnool region of Rayalaseema and are the longest caves in the plains of the subcontinent, cut in limestone by an underground stream, with long galleries, siphons and a deep point called Pataalaganga. Option B is wrong because Visakhapatnam district holds the Borra Caves in the Araku hills, which are also limestone caves but on the Gosthani river and in the Eastern Ghats, not in the plains. Option C is wrong because Guntur is known for the Amaravati stupa, the Undavalli rock-cut caves and its chilli market rather than for a cave system of this size. Option D is wrong because Chittoor is associated with Tirupati, Srikalahasti and the Horsley Hills. Keep Belum in Kurnool and Borra in the Araku hills apart.

The correct answer is B, Tirupati. The temple of Venkateswara, also called Balaji, stands on the seventh of the Tirumala hills above the town of Tirupati and is administered by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams; it draws more pilgrims than any other temple in the country and its annual Brahmotsavam is the chief temple festival of the state. Option A is wrong because Srisailam on the Krishna holds the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga and the Bhramaramba Shakti Peetha, a different and also famous pair of shrines. Option C is wrong because Vijayawada has the Kanaka Durga temple on the Indrakeeladri hill beside the Krishna. Option D is wrong because Simhachalam, near Visakhapatnam, is the Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple. All four are in Andhra Pradesh, which is why the options are set this way.

The correct answer is A, Lepakshi. The Veerabhadra temple at Lepakshi in the Anantapur region was built in the Vijayanagara period and is known for its painted ceilings, its carved Natya Mandapa, the great monolithic Nandi nearby and the hanging pillar that does not rest firmly on the floor. Option B is wrong because Amaravati is the site of the Buddhist Mahachaitya of the Satavahana period and is now the state capital. Option C is wrong because Nagarjunakonda was Vijayapuri, the capital of the Ikshvakus, whose remains were moved to an island museum when the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir filled. Option D is wrong because Undavalli near Vijayawada has rock-cut caves of the Vishnukundina period with a reclining Vishnu. All four are in the state, so the distinguishing detail is the hanging pillar.

The correct answer is C, Visakhapatnam. The Eastern Naval Command has its headquarters at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the only natural harbour on India's eastern seaboard, and the city also has the Hindustan Shipyard, a submarine base and the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Option A is wrong because Kochi is the headquarters of the Southern Naval Command, which is the navy's training command. Option B is wrong because Mumbai is the headquarters of the Western Naval Command. Option D is wrong because Chennai, although a large port on the same coast, does not host a naval command headquarters; it has a naval base under the Eastern Command. Learn the three together: Western at Mumbai, Eastern at Visakhapatnam, Southern at Kochi. The city is also called the City of Destiny, and the Hindustan Shipyard there builds and repairs ships for the navy and the merchant fleet.

The correct answer is A, the Kadapa region. Mangampet, in the Kadapa basin of Rayalaseema, holds one of the world's largest single deposits of barytes, the ore of barium, which is used as a weighting agent in oil well drilling mud, in paint and in glass. The Kadapa basin is also known for its limestone, dolomite and uranium exploration. Option B is wrong because the Srikakulam region in the far north is associated with the coast, the Vamsadhara and the Buddhist site of Salihundam. Option C is wrong because the East Godavari country is delta land known for rice, coconut and offshore natural gas rather than for barytes. Option D is wrong because the Prakasam region is known for Chirala handlooms and for tobacco. Remember the pairing of Mangampet with barytes and Nellore with mica.

The correct answer is B, Amaravati. When Telangana was separated in 2014 the two states shared the old High Court at Hyderabad for a few years; a separate Andhra Pradesh High Court was then constituted and began functioning at Amaravati, the new capital on the bank of the Krishna, on 1 January 2019, while the court at Hyderabad continued as the High Court for the State of Telangana. Option A is wrong because Hyderabad is now the seat of the Telangana High Court alone. Option C is wrong because Visakhapatnam is the largest city of the state and had been proposed as an administrative centre, but it is not the seat of the High Court. Option D is wrong because Kurnool was the capital of Andhra State in 1953 and has been proposed as a judicial centre, which is exactly why it appears as a distractor.